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    Meds or No Meds?

    I'm not sure what to think anymore.

    From the beginning of this pregnancy I've had a midwife and an OB - the midwife recommended I see an OB both because my first pregnancy ended in pre-eclampsia - and they have given me opposing advice several times, although they both support my VBAC (the midwife more than the OB, of course). But now I'm really in a pickle.

    My blood pressure has risen a little bit - it was 130/90 Tuesday when I went to my OB appointment. The doctor put me on modified bedrest, wants to see me weekly, wants to do a nonstress test on the baby every appointment, and the only one I really have an issue with: he gave me a prescription for blood pressure medication. I don't like to take medication at all, and taking blood pressure medication that will affect the baby is something I REALLY don't want to do.

    So I called my midwife for advice, which was: eat more beans and less meat, take more garlic supplements and lots of Vitamin C. She, a vegan, wants me to go vegan for the rest of the pregnancy. While the doctor told me to be on modified bed rest, she wants me to exercise more.

    I can't help but feel like one is doing too much and the other isn't doing enough. On one hand, I really would like to avoid the blood pressure medication - but changing my diet that drastically isn't something I'm financially prepared to do, much less something I have time to address right now, and I have no idea if it could be as effective as she thinks it's going to be. I kind of assume that it might help if I just happen to have BP that's just slightly elevated, but if it becomes pre-eclampsia, it's not going to help.

    Maybe I should try this vegan thing for a while and see if it helps? Wait until I develop other symptoms of pre-eclampsia before I take the medication? The doctor was kind of giving me the medication in hopes it would keep my blood pressure from getting too high, but if I don't need it right away, maybe it wouldn't make a difference?


    #2
    Re: Meds or No Meds?

    Did you ask the Dr. About the midwife's recommendations? It might be a good idea to ask specifically about any potential drawbacks of following the midwife's advice, and specific symptoms that you should be on the lookout for should you try following that advice.

    I don't know if this would help, but it seems like it would be wise.

    Best wishes!
    Every moment of a life is a horrible tragedy, a slapstick comedy, dark nihilism, golden illumination, or nothing at all; depending on how we write the story we tell ourselves.

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      #3
      Re: Meds or No Meds?

      I wouldn't go vegan. Going vegan for 'nutritional reasons' is one of the biggest loads of BS I've ever heard in the last few years....if you have a moral problem with eating animal products, go for it, but it's not healthier by any stretch. You will be missing out on crucial nutrients such as vitamin B12 which you and your baby need! Leaner meats should be just fine

      As for the rest, I'm not a doctor and I've never been pregnant, so maybe someone else will be able to give better advice

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        #4
        Re: Meds or No Meds?

        Originally posted by B. de Corbin View Post
        Did you ask the Dr. About the midwife's recommendations? It might be a good idea to ask specifically about any potential drawbacks of following the midwife's advice, and specific symptoms that you should be on the lookout for should you try following that advice.

        I don't know if this would help, but it seems like it would be wise.

        Best wishes!
        I haven't - I probably should have, but there's some awkwardness involved because they know each other, but not well. They've talked on the phone before concerning past patients and my midwife has admitted she's hoping that working on my care together might bring them closer together, professionally speaking. She's hoping to find some medical contacts in this area she can work with when she has patients here. I somehow ended up trying to avoid talking to one about the other - she considers his advice too heavy-handed and I get support from her for a natural home birth. At the same time, she can come across a little crazy when I'm in the clinic. She's going to an appointment with me in two weeks to meet him in person, so I want to be prepared. I don't really know what to expect - I have no idea what they'll be like together in the same room.

        Originally posted by DanieMarie View Post
        I wouldn't go vegan. Going vegan for 'nutritional reasons' is one of the biggest loads of BS I've ever heard in the last few years....if you have a moral problem with eating animal products, go for it, but it's not healthier by any stretch. You will be missing out on crucial nutrients such as vitamin B12 which you and your baby need! Leaner meats should be just fine

        As for the rest, I'm not a doctor and I've never been pregnant, so maybe someone else will be able to give better advice
        She's told me things in the past that I have a hard time accepting, although the truth is I haven't researched all of it. For instance, I told her I was craving a lot of milk and she told me I should avoid it because milk can raise my blood pressure. She told me that milk COSTS your body calcium to break it down. I'm not going to say it's not true, but I find that very hard to believe.
        I don't know if going vegan will actually help or not but I suppose I need to do some reading today and try to figure out the pros and cons with both treatments. Vegan vs. Methyldopa... this feels silly.

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          #5
          Re: Meds or No Meds?

          Diet can affect your blood pressure for sure (I recently had high blood pressure as well!) but you don't need to go vegan to lower it. Just make sure you get lots of fibre, eat lean meats and lots of veggies.

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            #6
            Re: Meds or No Meds?

            Bear in mind that whatever your fears about medication's effects upon the baby, high blood pressure comes at a price to, for both you and baby. Also vegan diets - unless they are done really well - can also have a few problems (such as lowering Vitamin B12 levels). I would research first which BP meds are safest in pregnancy. And also at which stage - because sometimes something can be safer later in your term.

            But good luck!
            www.thewolfenhowlepress.com


            Phantom Turnips never die.... they just get stewed occasionally....

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              #7
              Re: Meds or No Meds?

              One of the easiest & least stressful means of lowering b.p. is to cut out the sodium. Seek out hidden sodium in your diet and eliminate it. Canned foods are bad, so are sodas of all kinds. If you can't buy fresh vegetables, go for frozen over canned - they usually only cost a little more than the canned varieties and generally only contain the product and water (unless you're getting frozen broccoli with cheese sauce, that is :O) Try to use 'salty' flavorings like lemon juice instead of salting your food or using prepared condiments like ketchup.

              If you have a b.p. monitor, check it when you get up (try to be upright for about 15 - 20 minutes before taking a reading, otherwise your b.p. will do strange, erratic & alarming things as your blood circulates around) and about halfway through your day. If your b.p. is high when you wake up, that's a bad thing - and if you're far enough along in your pregnancy, a little b.p. medication shouldn't cause your kid developmental problems. If it creeps up gradually through the day, it's pretty much 'normal'. Watch your fluid intake, too - are you peeing as much as you're drinking? If not, seek out some diuretics (celery, dandelion greens & parsley are relatively safe during pregnancy).

              You just have to be very careful with high blood pressure. My chronic high blood pressure is very different than pregnancy related high b.p., so I can't really recommend anything beyond what I've just said. If your doctor is worried about you losing the baby, I'd go easy on strenuous exercise & picking things up. But walking & stretching should be safe - and stretching is good for relieving stress, which in turn relieves high blood pressure.
              The forum member formerly known as perzephone. Or Perze. I've shed a skin.

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                #8
                Re: Meds or No Meds?

                Thanks, guys!

                I've been doing some reading this morning and learned a little about how high blood pressure can be dangerous on it's own - I'm going to read some more about the medication he prescribed, Methyldopa, too.

                I don't think the vegan thing is going to work for me - I'm not really in a place where I can take on such a big change even if I felt I knew enough about it to attempt it and could manage to achieve it. But I can definitely eat better - more veggies for me!

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                  #9
                  Re: Meds or No Meds?

                  The milk thing: Yes, milk is actually NOT good for you at all - although it has calcium, the calcium is not in a form that is digestible by humans. To ingest something means to eat it - to digest something means for your body to break it down and absorb the nutrients and eliminated the waste. For links about why milk is actually not good for you, visit (http://www.naturalnews.com/031255_milk_health.html) ( http://www.organichealthandbeauty.co...k_ep_62-1.html ) Basically, google "Why is milk bad for you" or "Is milk bad for you" or "Dangers of milk" and you will find many, many websites that debunk the entire "Milk is great, it provides calcium, prevents osteoporosis and reduces fractures by improving bone strength"

                  My friend's grandmother drank at least 2 tall glasses of milk a day and she suffers from osteoporosis.

                  As for the high blood pressure, there are many natural ways to help it. Such as drinking a tbsp of apple cider vinegar every day (mixed with apple juice to reduce the taste, or simply dilute with water and slam it back) I am sure apple cider vinegar doesn't harm the baby, but it wouldn't hurt to Google that too "Does apple cider vinegar harm babies?"

                  Reducing your salt intake also helps with controlling blood pressure. I know all this because my grandmother suffers from extremely high blood pressure but she follows these remedies to keep it under control. She is 68 and doing just fine. Oh, and she never drinks milk either :P And her bones are tough as bricks!

                  Meat isn't the best. Yes, there are good nutrients in meat however, those nutrients could easily be found in vegetables and fruits. Vitamin b12 is hard to find in vegetables/fruits - so I would recommend eating some sort of lean meat at least once a weak to gain that vitamin. Apparently some sort of seaweed has b12 but that is hard to come by and probably tastes like shit haha. As for zinc and iron you can simply google "Vegetables with zinc and iron" to ensure you are still getting those necessary nutrients.

                  Doing yoga helps with high blood pressure. On youtube you can search "Yoga for high blood pressure" And you will find a few videos that show yoga moves. Some yoga isn't good to do while pregnant so read this article for more information (http://www.babycenter.com/404_is-it-...gnancy_5699.bc)

                  All in all, I would say stick to your midwife's advice. Asking your doctor if you should follow her advice is going to leave you confused. He will most likely say to not listen to her advice and to stick to his advice. But both of their advice is extremely different - she wants to be 100% natural, he wants you to pop pills to MASK and BANDAID the problem rather than treating it and fixing it....

                  Your intuition is guiding you in the right way. You are feeling like its probably best to stick to the natural remedies rather than resorting to medication. That is great. Your intuition is right (like it always is) so listen to it for the health of you and your child.

                  Best of luck, and I am sure that no matter what happens everything will end up being just fine. Take care, follow your intuition, and do research online for vegetables and fruits that contain important nutrients that aren't found in meat. Although eating only vegetables in fruit is costly on your budget - I would say that your health and your child's health, in the long run, is priceless.

                  There are many ways to save money by doing the littlest things - like using natural alternatives for cleaning, beauty and hygiene products. I have many recipes available at my website (cleanyourhome.net/home/).

                  Good luck!!! xX

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                    #10
                    Re: Meds or No Meds?

                    Two cents on the milk thing...

                    Modern milk from the store is a processed food. It is not in it's natural state.

                    That said, there are MUCH worse things you could be eating then milk, especially on a budget as tight as yours is!
                    Great Grandmother's Kitchen

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                      #11
                      Re: Meds or No Meds?

                      I'd also like to chime in that if you -do- go vegan (which I still recommend you don't), that you don't replace meat by eating a lot of soy. Small amounts of soy are ok, especially if it's fermented, but soy as a meat replacement is a terrible idea and there have been a lot of studies going around showing that it's not all that healthy. Stick to beans and lentils and stuff.

                      I will also admit that I'm really invested in lowering the amount of soy going around. I'm allergic to it, and it seems to be getting in everything under the sun somehow. So I pay attention to things about soy, going both ways. That being said, I'm also deathly allergic to almost all other meat substitutes (beans, lentils, etc) and soy is the only one I've seen that has any negative effects. Beans and chickpeas and stuff are supposedly great!

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                        #12
                        Re: Meds or No Meds?

                        Originally posted by routeeleven View Post
                        All in all, I would say stick to your midwife's advice. Asking your doctor if you should follow her advice is going to leave you confused. He will most likely say to not listen to her advice and to stick to his advice. But both of their advice is extremely different - she wants to be 100% natural, he wants you to pop pills to MASK and BANDAID the problem rather than treating it and fixing it....
                        While I'm sure you mean well, spreading this kind of information is potentially harmful if not downright fatal. Not all cases of high blood pressure can be 'fixed', so for those of us like myself (kidney damage from being hit by a car when I was a kid), 'popping pills' as you put it is the only thing standing between high blood pressure and a stroke or heart attack. Even a near-miss with a hemorrhagic stroke isn't a pleasant way to spend a day. For a pregnant woman, there are risks of pre-eclampsia to take into consideration along with the other effects of high blood pressure.

                        About the only thing apple cider vinegar has been proven to do is slow down the emptying of the stomach during meals, which may provide some benefits for people with high cholesterol and pre-diabetes. ACV is not some nutritional powerhouse - it's mostly just acetic acid with pectin and a few miniscule amounts of vitamins thrown in. The acetic acid will help your body absorb more minerals, but you'd have to get those from other food sources.
                        The forum member formerly known as perzephone. Or Perze. I've shed a skin.

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                          #13
                          Re: Meds or No Meds?

                          Originally posted by perzephone View Post
                          While I'm sure you mean well, spreading this kind of information is potentially harmful if not downright fatal. Not all cases of high blood pressure can be 'fixed', so for those of us like myself (kidney damage from being hit by a car when I was a kid), 'popping pills' as you put it is the only thing standing between high blood pressure and a stroke or heart attack.
                          How is it potentially harmful and fatal? Did I say she has to listen to my advice? Nooo. I just said I would say she should stick to the advice coming from her midwife. So I guess the advice her midwife is giving her is harmful and fatal too, right? There are risks with everything, including prescription medications. In my personal opinion I wouldn't take any pills as I would resort to natural remedies and exercise like her midwife had told her she should do.

                          I am sorry for what happened to you but her situation and yours is different. Obviously if you are prescribed medication because it will be a matter of life an death for you, then you will take it. However, in my personal belief, I believe there is always a natural cure (via herbs, exercise, meditation, etc). Now just because I said my opinion (which is to seek natural ways) does not mean it could be potentially fatal --- I am not forcing her to listen to my advice. She posted this forum because she is unsure and she was seeking the opinions of other people.

                          So yes, I mean well and no my advice and information is not harmful or potentially fatal - no more harmful or potentially fatal than listening to the advice of her doctor or her midwife.


                          Also, I didn't say that ACV was a "nutritional powerhouse" I said it helps with blood pressure - my grandma takes it, she is against any medication, she has even gotten into fights with the doctors because she refuses to take pills the prescribe. She manages her blood pressure with low salt intake and a tbsp of ACV daily. I am no scientist nor am I a doctor so I have no idea how ACV works to lower blood pressure but all I know is that it helps, a lot. And I'm sure a few minutes researching the topic will provide more insight. Not everything on the internet you should believe, I know that, but I just did a quick research and real people commented on a blog saying it works for them too. So sure, ACV isn't a nutritional powerhouse but obviously it helps people with many things. It is also great to improve your acne and skin tone, and can be given to animals to help with arthritis and add shine to their fur coat. Interesting. It may not be loaded with vitamins and nutrients but it is obviously beneficial to health in more than one way.


                          Last edited by routeeleven; 11 Nov 2011, 11:39.

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                            #14
                            Re: Meds or No Meds?

                            Originally posted by perzephone View Post
                            About the only thing apple cider vinegar has been proven to do is slow down the emptying of the stomach during meals, which may provide some benefits for people with high cholesterol and pre-diabetes. ACV is not some nutritional powerhouse - it's mostly just acetic acid with pectin and a few miniscule amounts of vitamins thrown in. The acetic acid will help your body absorb more minerals, but you'd have to get those from other food sources.
                            Cider vinegar with cultures in it is great though...for the same reason that yogurt and proper saurkraut (with cultures) are great

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                              #15
                              Re: Meds or No Meds?

                              I have high blood pressure and I take quite a few medications. But that's not really here nor there.

                              What concerns me is your hesitation to talk to the doctor and midwife independently or together. So it might be uncomfortable to them. Who gives a poo? YOU are the patient and customer to be quite honest. You and your fetus are the important thing here. I would let them know that though you trust both of their opinions, they are both pulling you apart in different directions and causing you to stall in your diligence in what to do. Explain they both need to come to a middle ground in what's right for YOU. Not what's their standard procedure.

                              In the end these two people are the best people to help you. But if you can't communicate with them and let them know your concerns, it's going to be a big waste of resources for you. Because now look at us. Fighting over milk. None of this helps you.
                              Satan is my spirit animal

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